1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to railcars and, in particular, to an improved railroad passenger seat.
2. Summary of the Invention
Numerous designs for railcar passenger seats have been employed over the long history of railroads. A walkover seat is commonly used in current passenger car applications because the seat back position can be moved to oppositely facing directions. Known walkover seats suffer from several problems involving economy of design and manufacture, safety, maintenance and durability. From the safety standpoint, the presence of an unrestrained or restrained seat in front of a passenger creates a hazard during rapid deceleration, such as during a catastrophic emergency. The unrestrained seat offers no protection and causes serious injuries when impacted by a passenger during deceleration. Restrained seats, such as by means of latches and the like, form a rigid obstacle, which likewise causes injury to the passenger impacting the seat back during deceleration. Attempts have been made in the prior art to absorb the energy of impact by a passenger against a seat back, but a need exists in providing effective and economical means of protecting the passenger during emergency situations.
In its opposing positions, the seat back of prior devices utilize latches, stops and support brackets to retain the seat back. Such retention elements are subject to unnecessary wear and require periodic adjustment. Further, the use of brackets and the like to retain the seat back upright does not provide optimum strength characteristics. The seat frames in the past have further used latches or locks to retain it in an operable position. Such latches or locks are subject to stress, which requires repair or replacement. In moving the walkover seat back, the latches can be noisy and are not passenger friendly. The design of seat cushion of prior walkover seats further do not have a frame and cushion design which maximizes the ease of installation by being easily self-positioning. In addition, prior seat cushions do not optimize protection to the cushion by preventing damage from retention clips, vandalism, and normal everyday use. Therefore, it is desirable in the prior art to provide an improved passenger seat overcoming the foregoing and other problems in the prior art.
It is, therefore, an objective of the invention to provide an improved walkover sat for passenger railcars. The invention hereto provides a seat design of superior strength with a low weight ratio and smooth operative characteristics. The walkover seat of the application is easy to install and service. The cushion frame is designed to rest directly on the seat frame in opposite positions to eliminate the need of latches or locks for retention. By resting on the seat frame, stress on the seat linkages is substantially reduced and a more lightweight linkage assembly can be employed. Such support of the seat cushion frame further provides a stable, quiet, and passenger friendly seat design and is self-positioning.
The seat back of the invention is mounted for movement on a pair of self-positioning levers on each side. In the opposite seat positions, the levers abut each other to retain the seat back in its upright positions. The abutting levers eliminate the need to use support brackets, stops and the like. The abutting levers further provide greater longevity of service, eliminate wear and do not require costly adjustment. The levers also provide excellent strength when stressed to provide a good strength to weight ratio.
The seat cushion of the invention is provided with a unique bottom pan, which protects the seat cushion against damage from installation and use. The cushion pan allows the seat cushion to be dropped onto attachment elements for easy installation and has no exterior protrusions to damage other cushions during transport and use.
The invention herein further is provided with dual locks at opposite ends of the shafts carrying the walkover seat back levers. The dual locks are mounted in end blocks, which also contain energy dissipation shafts. The energy dissipation shafts cooperate with the locks in the blocks to dissipate energy upon the locks restraining rotation of the walkover shafts during extraordinary deceleration conditions of the railcar. The end blocks simplify the elastic components and reduce associated costs and weight.